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According to a duo of photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher, the form of the industrial
construction is determined only by its function. The designing logic of the architecture in the
concentration camp Auschwitz was, that the forms of the buildings were absolutely
subordinated to their function as instruments of the industrial genocide. So, this architecture is
a pure realization of Louis Sullivans principle of the modern: „form follows function“. In this
context Zygmunt Bauman also pointed out that „the modern civilization [...] certainly was not
the only one, but was probably a necessary precondition for the Holocaust“ (Zygmunt Bauman,
Modernity and The Holocaust).

The concentration camp Auschwitz was founded in 1940 by order of Heinrich Himmler,
the chief of the „Waffen-SS“. For the localization of the first unit, „KZ Auschwitz I“, a former
Polish garrison in the town Oświęcim was chosen. The buildings were partly increased by two
floors and adapted to the new function of the „living quarters“ for the prisoners. The
extermination camp in the village Brzezinka (ger. Birkenau), „KZ Auschwitz II“, has been built on
a moorish, rather uninhabited terrain.

The typological examination of the buildings and the objects in this photographic cycle
should enable the spectator to compare rationalization methods in an architecture designed
for efficient mass killing. To avoid the narrative character and to show the „things as they are”
(Susan Sonntag), the images have been made within similar and constant lighting conditions.
All photographs were taken on the 4x5 inch b&w negativs.

About author:

1978 born in nysa, poland 2004 engineer graduate at the opole university of technology (PL) 2006 cofounder
of tumw wroclaw (PL) 2007 co-owner and later journalist for inwestor magazine (PL) 2010
freelance journalist for architektura magazine (PL) 2012 master of arts graduate in photography on the
burg giebichenstein university of arts halle under prof. rudolf schäfer (D) 2012 assistant lecturer on the
burg giebichenstein university of arts halle (D) 2014 start of the ph.d. on the burg giebichenstein
university of arts halle in the department of design studies (D) 2017 guest lecturer for the photography
on the institute of the art education warsaw (PL)

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